Avatar: The Last Airbender Kyra
by Marina1438
Summary: They say only the avatar can bend all four elements...but what if they were wrong? This story is basically the entire show AtLA but from the point of view of my OC and her romance with Zuko. I do not own anything besides my OCs
1. Chapter 1

I walked through the streets of the little earth kingdom town that had somehow managed to avoid the raids of the fire nation. There was nothing special about it, which was probably the reason for why it had managed to remain peaceful for the past one-hundred years that the war has lasted. It won't remain this way for long though, the fire nation always manages to destroy everything that is good and pure even if it poses no threat to them.

I put my hand in my pouch and noticed that I only had a couple copper pieces left, not nearly enough money to buy myself dinner or a place to stay for the night.

I sighed and said, "I guess it's time for another performance. Isn't it, Naiya?" I looked at the curious fox-sort of creature that rested across my shoulders. She blinked once went back to sleep.

Naiya was a peculiar animal; reason being was that I didn't know what kind of animal she was. She mainly looked like any other fox, she had black paws, white tipped tail, and a red-orange coat. What was peculiar about Naiya was that she had gold wolf eyes which are very similar to human eyes (unlike fox eyes which are similar to cat eyes), the other peculiarity was that she had two tiny horns slightly under her ears and above her eyes. There was no other animal like Naiya, not to my knowledge at least. She was an outcast and what appeared to be a mix of many races…just like me.

We walked a little deeper into the town until we reached its center. It was a big circle surrounded by a variety of stores and in the middle there was a small platform that was used to deliver important messages to the inhabitants of the town.

_Perfect_, I thought.

I took of my heavy bag which contained an array of objects and laid it next to me as Naiya and I awaited the night.

The moon arose soon enough and many shop keepers and their clients were getting ready to pack it up for the night and head home.

I stood up and picked up my bag as Naiya jumped off my shoulders and walked besides me. I made my way towards the platform and climbed the steps. There were a few curious eyes that were wondering what I was up to but many of them were not interested enough to continue watching.

I took out a torch, spark rocks, a cup, and lamp oil from inside my bag. I took the spark rocks and lit the torch and held it in my left hand; more curious glances were beginning to be directed towards me. Then I took the lamp oil and poured a decent amount into the cup.

_Time to find out how this town feels about fire, _I thought.

I brought the cup up to my lips and took a generous gulp, careful not to swallow any of it. I took a deep breath, brought the torch close to my lips and blew all of the oil out of my mouth and onto the flame creating a giant fire ball which lit up the entire area.

I had everyone's undivided attention.

In the past there had been incidents in which people mistook me for a firebender and threw me out of the town, but there were no signs of violence here, yet.

Everyone stared at me intently, wondering what I would do next. The few kids that were there pushed their way through the crowd to get a closer look.

"Ladies and gentlemen, tonight I will perform an array of tricks and stunts with fire! I h-"

"You're a firebender!" screamed out a burly man pushing a cart with all sorts of beautiful and expensive looking jewels.

_Oh dear_.

I tossed the torch up in the air, caught it with my right hand, and pointed it towards the man, "No, I am not. I do not possess the ability to bend any element_", A little white lie never hurt anyone, right? _"I simply light a couple of objects and perform silly tricks with them for your entertainment".

"Now!" I said to the rest of the crowd, "If you do not believe me and think that I am a firebender feel free to leave now and miss a great show."

Everyone began to whisper amongst themselves and some shifted their weight from side to side. I waited for a little to see if anyone did leave, "Anyone? No? Didn't think so." I took another sip of oil and blew another fireball. The crowed awed.

I put the torch down and took off my dark brown cloak and laid it on the ground. I took out two chains from inside my bag; each had a piece of wood covered in a rag dipped in oil at the end of them. I lit them both and began to slowly swing them back and forward in front of the audience.

Everyone was staring closely. I began to spin them faster and faster until all you could see were two, bright, glowing circles. I spun them around me in all sorts of ways. The crowd cheered and clapped. I took a running start, the glowing circles at either side of me and did an aerial. The crowd gasped and cheered.

I stopped the chains from spinning, "Thank you" I said, "Now, for the next part I will need music".

I reached inside my bag and pulled out a flute. "Is there anyone here that knows how to play the flute?"

No one raised their hand. "Anyone? Don't be shy".

A young girl to my left that seemed to be about my age walked forward.

"Great!" I said and handed her the flute, "What's your name?"

"Ming", she said.

"Spectacular. Now, I promise it's clean. Go ahead and play whatever tune you want"

Ming smiled shyly and began to play an upbeat, gypsy like tune. "Perfect", I said. I went to my bag and took out my fire fingers. These are 8 thin, torch-like-objects that you strap onto your fingers. I lit all of them and began to move to the flow of the music.

I was not a dancer by any means. I had never taken a single dance lesson in my life, but you would have never guessed that if you had ever seen me perform. I was as nimble and light on my feet as a fox.

The crowd had grown bigger everyone was applauding and aweing as I did turns, leaps, back bends, and hand stands, all in perfect timing with the music. It was almost as if it had been rehearsed.

I could tell that the song was about to come to an end so I took a couple steps, pushed off from the ground, leapt into a split leap, and then crouched on the ground. The fire fingers no longer lit.

Everything was silent; the only light now was the moon. I stood up and the crowd clapped and cheered.

"Thank you!" I said and walked over to Ming, "Thank you, Ming". She smiled.

Naiya came up to me and I handed her my pouch, she took it in her mouth and went around collecting money from the crowd as I packed up my things.

A couple minutes later the crowed had dispersed and Naiya came back with the pouch. I looked into it and there were a couple of silver pieces but the majority were copper and the small pouch was not even a third full.

I sighed, "Well, it's more than what we had this morning".

I picked up my bag, Naiya jumped up to my shoulders and we made our way to the nearest and open food stand.

"What's the cheapest thing you have?" I asked the woman at the counter.

"The cheapest thing I have is a bowl of noodle soup", she said.

"I'll take one and do you have any raw meat?" I asked, the woman eyed me curiously, "For my pet".

"Aha…" she said, "I have some fish, but it's going to cost you".

"Of course" I said, "I'll take it".

I handed her the money and in turn she handed me the fish and bowl of soup. I began to walk away when she grabbed my arm and pulled me back. "Hey!" she said, "If you want the bowl you're going to have to pay for that also! If not then you are going to finish your soup here and hand the bowl back!"

"Right…" I frowned as I sat down at one of the available tables, "I apologize".

The woman turned her attention to her other clients and said, "Mangy kids".

I rolled my eyes and handed Naiya the fish and began eating my soup.

A couple tables away from me there were two men whispering rather loudly but I was the only one close enough to hear them.

"Are you sure?" said one man with braided hair.

"Positive" said the other man with a beard.

"I can't believe it…There is still hope!"

"No…no there isn't…"

"What are you talking about? Of course there is!"

"He has been gone for a hundred years but from what I've heard he only knows how to bend air, he doesn't know how to bend any of the other elements"

_Could they possibly be talking of…_

"But he's the Avatar! Even if he only knows how to bend air he can still defeat the Firelord!"

My eyes widened. _The Avatar? It can't be_.

"They told me that he's only a little kid" said the bearded man.

"Who told you this?" said the one with his hair in a braid.

"My cousin, he was selling cabbages in Omashu when the Avatar and his friends destroyed them"

"Are you done yet?" said the woman who had sold me the fish and soup, "I'm about to close".

I looked down at my soup and noticed that I had only had a spoon full, "Um, no. Sorry"

"Well hurry up or leave" said the woman as she turned and began to clean the tables.

I looked over to see if the two men were still there but they had gotten up and left when the woman said that she was about to close.

I hurried up and finished my soup and left quickly before I got yelled at again.

I looked inside the pouch. I still had some money left but not enough to rent a room for the night.

"Looks like we're sleeping under the stars again Naiya", I said.

I walked to the outskirts of the town, far away from any buildings and found a tree to lie underneath of. I put my bag on the floor and rolled out my sleeping bag. I sat down and took of my sandals noting that I would soon need a new pair; they were beginning to fall apart and get holes in them.

I crawled into my sleeping bag and so did Naiya.

_The Avatar…he's been gone for a hundred years, only knows how to bend air, and is just a kid…? How is that even possible? I would understand if he was from one of the water tribes but according to that man he's an airbender._

I frowned.

At the thought of the water tribes it reminded me of the reason for why I had been traveling north in the first place, to reach the Northern Water Tribe.

_With the amount of money I earn it will take me years before I reach the Northern Water Tribe. _

_Unless…I hitch a ride with the Avatar…Surely that's where he is headed, to learn waterbending._

_No, why would he ever let me travel with him? He'll probably think I'm trying to capture him or something of that sort._

_But! I could offer to teach him a couple bending basics. He's probably desperate for a teacher, he is one-hundred years late after all._

I grinned, "Naiya, we are going to go in search of the Avatar"


	2. Chapter 2

I woke up early the next morning and packed up camp.

Naiya barked.

"I'm sorry", I said, "I know you're hungry and so am I, but we're going to have to wait until we reach the next town. At least you can hunt down mice of some sort or something".

She must have seen this as a good idea because next thing I knew she was eating mice to her hearts content.

We were now going through the Kolau Mountain Ranges and there was still no sign of any town and much less the Avatar. It was beginning to get dark and I hadn't eaten anything all day and my stomach had stopped making weird noises and had started to hurt.

"Ugh…Maybe we can find a river of some sorts"

I made my way north-west and did not come across a river but did come across a berry bush. I made sure that they were not poisonous and had enough to stifle my hunger and then took out the money that was in my pouch, put it in my cloak pocket, and filled the pouch to the brim with berries.

We continued walking the rest of the night until my feet could no longer bear it.

I sat on the floor with a grunt and took of my sandals and examined my feet. They had several cuts in them that needed to be cleaned. I reached inside my bag and pulled out my canteen and saw that it was almost empty.

"Great", I said as I waterbended the water out of the container and healed my feet, "Now I need drinking water".

I was a waterbender; however, I had not grown up in any of the Water Tribes and only knew the simple basics of it, but I also had the ability to heal non-threatening cuts like the ones on my feet. That wasn't all I was capable of though…

Once my feet were healed I sat still and listened. I leaned my back on a tree and looked up to the moon through its branches and felt my power increase with the moon.

I felt a slight tug, like an invisible source was pulling me towards my left.

I stood and walked towards the pull and as I got nearer it got stronger and stronger until I was at the edge of a river.

I smiled, "Well that was easy enough".

I bended more water into the canteen and set up camp for the night.

The next morning me and Naiya kept at it and continued our way down the river hoping to find a town where we could get food. Well, more like where I could get food, Naiya was quiet content hunting down her mice for now.

As we made our way down the river it constantly continued to get wider and wider until it no longer seemed like a river and more like a lake.

"It's either head back and cross the river at a part where it's thinner or continue forward in the hopes that we find a town soon", I said to Naiya who has perched on my shoulders.

She blinked and pointed her nose forward.

"Continue on it is", I sighed.

By midafternoon it proved that Naiya had been right, we had finally reached civilization.

"This time I'm buying in bulk", I told Naiya as I made my way up to a fruits and vegetables stand.

I handed the man some money and asked, "How much will this get me?"

He took the money in his palm and counted it, "Hm, not much. I would say a couple apples, mango, and moon peaches".

"That's fine", I said, "I'll take as many as I can of each and a bag to put them in please".

The man smiled and said, "Right away".

As he did that I looked around at my surroundings. Nothing unusual, just your typical Earth Kingdom town. There was no fire nation here either as far as I could tell.

Down the road there was a dock were the river met the ocean and ferry that seemed to be taking passengers from one side of the river to the other.

"Here you go", said the man as he handed me the bag.

"Thank you", I said, "Just a quick question. How do I get across to the other side if the river?"

"Well if you follow this rode you'll come across a ferry that will take you straight across", said the man.

"How much is it?"

The man grimaced, he could tell I didn't have a lot of money, "A couple silver pieces and if you're planning on taking your pet it will be extra also"

I sighed, "Thanks"

I made my way towards the dock and stood there for a while staring across the water, contemplating on what I should do.

_There's no way that I could water bend my way to the other side, walking back to where the river was thinner will take too long and I'm not sure I have it in me to make it all the way there. _

"*Sigh* I guess the only way is too put on another performance, maybe even several…"

We settled down on a bench and I ate two of my apples as we waited for the moon to rise once more.

Once it had risen me and Naiya made our way towards the middle of town. This time there was no stage or platform I could perform on.

I put my bag on the floor and pulled out my torch, lamp oil, cup, and spark rocks. I lit the torch and took a sip of lamp oil. I brought the torch close to my lips, inhaled, and blew a fireball to catch every ones attention.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Tonight, you will witnesses the manipulation of fire! _Without_, the use of bending!"

I took out another torch from inside my bag and lit it. With one torch in each hand I began to juggle them. Tossing them from hand to hand, tossing them under my leg and over, doing aerials with them.

I could tell the crowd was beginning to get bored however, some had even begun to leave, so I decided toss one torch high up into the air as I did an illusion spin underneath it, but when my hand reached out to catch the torch I realized that it had not spun enough times, but it was too late. The flame landed right in my hand.

I screamed in agony and my left hand dropped the other torch in order to cradle my injured hand. I was doubled over on the floor.

The crowd began to "boo" and complain about how it had been a waste of their time.

With tears threatening to stream down my cheeks I picked up my bag and ran, leaving the torches behind.

I ran into the nearest alleyway and crouched on the floor to inspect my wound.

I could hardly see anything, it was dark and my eyes were blurry with tears from the immense pain, but from what I could see, it was bad…very bad. I would not be able to heal this by myself, not completely at least.

I reached for my canteen with my uninjured hand, opened it with my teeth, and bended water onto my wounded hand. The pain did not cease but simply decreased in the slightest amount.

I had gotten burnt before, but it had never been like this. My past burns had been slight burns from the flame getting too close to me. I had never actually reached out and grabbed at the flames before.

I continued to try and heal my hand as much as possible as I leaned back against the wall and Naiya crawled onto my lap to comfort me.

I was shaking from the shock of the injury and I was taking slow steady breaths to calm myself again when I heard footsteps heading towards me. I looked up but could not make out the strangers face.

"Wh-who's there?" I croaked.

They didn't say anything and continued walking in my direction. Naiya began to growl.

I stood up and ran in the opposite direction, but it was no use, there was no way out and the stranger was getting closer and closer.

"Who are you?" I yelled as I was cornered by this stranger. I began to panic and couldn't think straight, so I did the only rational thing any women would do. I kicked him where it hurts.

"Urgh!" he groaned as he doubled over on the ground.

I leapt over him and began running out of the alleyway when something wrapped around my left foot and I came crashing to the ground. I looked to see what it was, it was a whip.

Naiya began gnawing at it and I tried to get back up but the stranger was using the whip to pull me closer to him.

"Help!" I yelled but it was no use.

As he continued to drag me closer I tried to look for any water to bend but there was none, I had used up my last bit trying to heal my hand.

I turned to look at this stranger but as I did this he took an empty glass bottle and broke it on my head…

Everything went black…


	3. Chapter 3

My head was pounding…I tried opening my eyes but when I did everything was blurry and made my head ache even more.

"Where am I..?" I mumbled.

Once my vision focused I looked around at my surroundings.

I was in a metal and empty room, except for a chair that was placed directly in front of me and a door behind the chair. I tried to get up and walk towards it but found that I couldn't move. My hands and feet were firmly tied to another chair, one in which I sat in.

I grunted as I tried my hardest to separate myself from the chair but there was no point.

"Ugh!" I exhaled.

A bark came from above me.

I looked up and saw that Naiya was trapped in a cage hanging from the ceiling.

"What's going on?" I whispered.

I heard footsteps heading in our direction. My first instinct was to hide or run, but where? I was tied to a chair.

The door opened and a guy about my age walked in. The first thing I noticed was a massive scar covering the left side of his face; he was wearing fire nation armor, and was pretty much bald except for a random ponytail.

"You're finally awake", he said as he closed the door behind him.

I didn't respond.

He took his place in the seat in front of me.

"One of my soldiers informed me that they witnessed you firebending and waterbending", he said.

Again I said nothing.

"He believes you're the avatar"

Nothing. He frowned.

"But you're not, are you? I've met the avatar before and you are most definitely not him. That still leaves to question, how are you capable of bending fire and water?"

I still said nothing. He took a deep breath.

"Fine, I see how it's going to be. If you won't talk then I won't feed you, and I imagine that you must be pretty hungry right about now. You've been out for an entire day".

He stood up and walked out of the room.

As soon as the door closed behind him my stomach began to growl.

_Great… _

They left us there with no food and much less water. There was no window that I could look out of in order to tell me how much time had gone by but it seemed to me like we had been there for an eternity.

My head was hanging low and all I wanted was to sleep and eat.

I began to hear footsteps again. They headed towards us once more and the door opened.

It was that guy again, but this time he brought friends. Two fire nation soldiers flanked him on each side.

"Untie her and bring her to the deck", he commanded, "Bring the fox also". He turned and walked out the door while the two brutes forcefully untied me and Naiya and pushed us down a metal hallway and up a flight of stairs.

I squinted as the sun light hit my eyes and blinded me for a couple seconds.

We were on the deck of a fire nation ship, not a very large one but not a small one either. There was a wooden post in the middle and I wondered what it was used for. I didn't need to wonder for very long because next thing I knew I was being tied to it and had my hands bound in order for me not to bend water because it appeared as if we were afloat a little ways off shore.

Once they had me securely tied to the post with Naiyas cage right next to me that guy returned and stood in front of me.

"Now, we are going to try this again", he said, "My men saw you firebending _and_ waterbending. You are going to tell me how that is even remotely possible".

I said nothing and looked at the floor.

He gritted his teeth and marched towards me. He grabbed a handful of my hair and jerked my head back in order to force me to look at him.

"I don't know if you can tell, but I am not a very patient person and I demand answers to my questions when I ask them", he said.

I glared at him, "Who are _you_ to demand answers from _me_?"

He let go of my hair and took a couple steps back and turned his back to me.

"I am Zuko", he said, "Son of the Firelord, Prince of the Fire Nation, and heir to the throne".

"Oh, I see", I said, "Prince Zuko, huh? You mean the exiled one? Last time I checked being exiled means the complete opposite of being 'heir to the throne'".

The exiled prince clenched his fists and took a very long and deep breath to steady his self and turned to face me once more.

"So now you have a voice, huh?" he said.

"Well you messed up my hair", I stated.

He glared and spoke very slowly and deliberately, "How is it possible that you can bend two elements?"

"I don't", I said.

"My soldier clearly saw you bend fire and then later on bend water".

"Well your soldier must be either blind or stupid because I did _not_ firebend".

"Really? While going through your belongings my soldiers found a number of different types of torches"

"And if they would have looked a little more they would have found spark rocks and a container full of lamp oil"

"Maybe you're simply trying to hide the fact that you can bend multiple elements by _claiming_ to use lamp oil to blow fireballs"

"If that were the case don't you think I would've at least saved myself from burning my hand?"

"No, because you're also a waterbender and can heal yourself"

I laughed, "Ha! Really? Then explain why my entire right hand is completely burnt now. Which, by the way, these chains aren't helping the matter"

He glared at me and said in a mocking tone, "Does it look like I care".

"Well, from the looks of things it seems as though you know quite a bit about burns. Surely you must know the discomfort I am currently going through"

That did it.

He looked enraged. He stood up and shot a well-aimed fireball at Naiya.

"No!" I screamed and closed my eyes.

It was silent. I opened my eyes and looked at the cage. Naiya was fine, but there was scorch mark next to her cage.

I looked back at him and glared.

"Next time", he said, "I won't miss. Take her back to her room". He began walking away.

"More like a prison cell", I mumbled as I was untied. Apparently the banished prince heard me because he stopped for a split second, rolled his neck, and continued walking.


	4. Chapter 4

Once again I was looked in the room with Naiya for what seemed to have been even longer than last time. My mouth was dry from the lack of water and my stomach kept on growling and giving me horrible pains, constantly reminding me of the lack of food.

I was finally beginning to dose off when I heard faint footsteps once more. I woke up and sat up right, I wasn't about to let that jerk see me low in spirits. However, when the door opened it wasn't that jerk, it was a short, fat, old man carrying a tray of food.

He closed the door behind him and set the tray of food on the chair in front of me. He then took a key from within his sleeve and walked towards me and unlocked the locks on my chains.

I simply sat there, shocked.

I should have run, but Naiya was still locked in her cage and no doubt there were probably a number of soldiers walking around the ship. I looked at the old man and saw that he was simply smiling.

"Eat", he said as he nodded towards the tray of food, "You must be famished".

I looked at the tray of food for a moment and slowly brought it to my lap. The tray had a cup of tea, a bowl of rice, and a bread roll. I picked up the bowl of rice and began eating vigorously.

The old man sat on the chair across from me and once I was done I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and laid the empty tray on the floor.

"Thank you", I said.

"You are very welcome", he responded.

"Not to sound rude but, who are you?"

"I am Prince Zukos' uncle. Retired General Iroh".

"I see", I said, "I thought I wasn't supposed to be fed though".

"You aren't", General Iroh stated and proceeded to add in a whisper, "But that shall be our little secret", he winked.

I smiled.

There was a long silence in which neither one of us had anything to say, when I finally spoke up and asked, "What does he want with me? If he's looking for the Avatar and he knows I'm not him, why keep me locked up?"

The retired general thought about it for a second and then responded, "I guess he is curious as to how you can bend more than one element. As far as anyone can remember, it is known that the only person who could ever bend more than one element was the avatar. If you weren't the avatar then you had no hope of bending more than one element. Then you come along and bend fire and water, the two most opposite elements".

"But. I. Can't!" I said exasperated, "I can't bend more than one element! How many times do I have to say that?"

"If that truly is the case then we shall see tomorrow".

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that we shall see if you are telling the truth tomorrow, which I believe you are, and I am truly sorry, but I must put the chains back on".

As he did that I asked, "Well what's going to _happen_ tomorrow?"

"I shall be performing a simple test to determine your bending abilities".

"What kind of test?" I asked suspiciously.

"You don't need to worry", he assured, "I will not harm you or your pet".

"What are you going to do to us?"

"I will simply place pieces of the elements in front of you and see if they react to you".

"That's it?" I questioned.

"That's it", he said, "Now, if you'll excuse me, my nephew does not know I am here and if I am gone for too long he will begin to wonder where I went". He bowed and left.

I sighed, "Whatever it is he us going to place in front of me tomorrow better not move a muscle"

Naiya barked in agreement.

I was fast asleep with my head hanging and a little bit or of drool coming out of my mouth when a voice woke me up, "Rise and shine".

I woke up with a start, in front of me there was now a table, behind it sat retired General Iroh, and behind him stood the jerk that I am assuming was the one who woke me up.

"Well if it isn't the banished Prince", I said.

He took in a deep breath, "This is my uncle, General Iroh. He will be performing a test on you to see if it's true that you can only bend water".

I turned my gaze towards the retired general and he nodded and said, "Pleasure to meet you".

I nodded.

"I will be placing objects in front of you and see if they react to you", he said as he reached down to a pouch on the floor. He took out a jar and poured some water on the table.

I looked at the deformed puddle and let put a gasp as it slowly began to come together and formed a perfect circle.

"Well you're obviously a water bender", said the jerk.

I mockingly smiled at him, "Obviously".

General Iroh grabbed a rag and soaked up and the water and dried the table. Next he placed a candle on the table and lit it.

I held my breath and hoped that the flame did not react to me. Everyone in the room starred at the flame intently for a couple minutes, but the flame didn't so much as flicker.

I smiled and looked up at the jerk. He was still starring at the flame and had scowl on his face.

"So, are you going to let me out of these chains now or are you still convinced that I can somehow firebend?" I asked.

Without looking at me he turned around and opened the door. Standing outside was a guard.

"Release her", the jerk ordered and walked away.


	5. Chapter 5

I was finally free from the chains and was being escorted by two guards through the passages up to the top level of the ship where Naiya, who was on my shoulders as usual, and I would finally be free.

As we walked up the last couple of steps I was blinded from the brightness of the sun. I squinted and let my eyes adjust and once they had I noticed that the ship was tied up at the port of the town that I had tried to get to a couple days earlier by using the ferry.

On the deck there was General Iroh playing a game by himself and a couple steps away from him was that jerk looking off to sea with that constant frown of his. I assumed he was frustrated at his lack of accomplishing to find the Avatar. Then I realized, we were both looking for the avatar, for different reasons, but we still had that in common.

As I slowly made my way towards the plank that was connected to the dock I thought, _If he captures the avatar then I won't get to go to the north pole, not to mention that it would just be bad period_. _This means I would have to find the avatar before he does, but how? I have no idea where he is, the guy at the food stand said he was seen at Omashu but he is probably not there anymore. The jerk probably has more chances of finding him than I do, what with his fancy ship and numerous crew members._

I stopped walking, "Hey!" I said, trying to grab the jerks attention. The guards were startled at my sudden outburst.

The jerk didn't turn to look at me but said in his usual serious tone, "Hi".

"You're hilarious", I remarked, "You say you have to find the avatar right?"

"Yea".

"Do you even have the slightest idea of where he may be?"

"That is none of your concern" he said turning his head to where I was able to see the side of his face.

I smiled, "So in other words no".

He gritted his teeth and turned to face me, "Why do you even want to know?"

"Well, firstly, you anger much too quickly, you should seriously consider taking some anger management classes".

"Agreed", said General Iroh.

The jerk glared at both of us.

"Secondly, it was obvious that I am street performer from the contents of my bag but there are many things you don't know about me. One of them being that when I'm not performing I am bounty hunter"

"Your point?" asked the jerk.

"You aren't very bright either, huh? Okay, I'll spell it out for you. I am a skilled tracker and I could offer you my services in exchange for a couple minor things".

"_What_ things?" he asked with caution.

"Well, shelter, food, a reward once we find him, the usual".

"That's it?"

"Mmm, yea. At least that's all I can think of right now".

"Why would you want to help me?"

"Honestly? I don't have a home and my only income at the moment comes from street performances and capturing delinquents and I have to admit I'm pretty tired of doing that. Doing this would allow me to rest and with the reward given to me once you have the avatar I could hopefully settle down, get a job, a house, I don't know"

The jerk thought about it for a couple seconds and then said, "How big of a reward are you going to want?"

"Big", I said.

He was quiet.

"Your father is going to take you back in once you have the avatar, right?" I asked.

"Yea".

"Soooo, you're going to be the prince again, which means you're going to have a lot of money, why not share give some to the poor?"

"Prince Zuko", said General Iroh, "Please think about the generous offer that this young lady is giving you"

"Generous?" he asked, "She's asking me to give her a large amount of money".

"And in exchange you get the avatar and your throne!" I said, "Seems like a pretty fair trade to me".

The jerk turned around and glared out to the ocean, "Fine".

I smiled, everything had gone according to plan, "Marvelous. Now, where will I be staying? Hopefully not that prison cell again".

"Come", said General Iroh as he stood up, "I'll show to one of the spare bedrooms".

"Thank you", I said.

We went below deck once again and were silent for a couple of minutes until we reached my new bedroom. He opened the door for me and smiled.

"Thank you", I said again. I walked in and took in my surroundings.

There was a long but short rectangular window going across the wall opposite of me, underneath it there was a small twin size bed. On the wall to my left there were a couple drawers where I could store my things, on the right wall there were more cabinets but they were only waist high and there was a mirror placed above that.

"It is a pleasure to have you here on board", said the general, "But I must ask, are you really willing to capture the avatar?"

I hadn't expected him to ask that question, "Um, well, yes, why?"

"I was simply wondering. Since you're a waterbender I thought you would have wanted the firenations tyrant reign to end".

I frowned, _why would he call his own nation tyrannical?, _"Well, if that's the way you see the firenation then why are you helping the jerk capture the avatar?"

The general looked down at the floor, "He is my nephew and I must help him in every way that I can, even if I don't entirely agree with his choices". He looked back up at me and smiled, "I shall leave you to settle in, good bye".

With that he turned around and left.

_Little does he know that I do not plan on helping the jerk capture the avatar, I guess the general and I are on the same team._

I walked over to the bed and placed my bag down next to it and Naiya jumped down from my shoulders and settled down on the bed.

I then walked over to the mirror. In the reflection I saw myself, a young teenage girl with black wavy hair (that you couldn't notice was wavy because it was put in a loose braid that draped over my left shoulder), pale skin that was very unnatural for a waterbender to have, and deep blue eyes. I frowned; my eyes were my only water tribe traits, everything else could be mistaken from some other nation. It was understandable though, considering my parentage.

I sighed as I saw a single strand of hair hanging between my eyes that never liked to stay in place. I grabbed it and tucked it back where it belonged.

I didn't unpack my few belongings because I did not plan to stay very long, so I simply put my bag underneath my bed where it was hidden from sight, then I heard a knocking on the door.

"Come in", I said.

When the door opened I saw that it was the jerk.

"Can I help you?" I asked.

"Here", he said and he handed me what appeared to be bundle of folded red cloth.

"What is this?" I asked.

"Clothes, if you're going to be traveling with us you have to at least look presentable and what you have on….Well, it simply won't do".

I glared at him and examined my outfit, It was a simple, brownish-green, fitted tunic with detailed designs around the edges, and regular brown pants. "Riiight…", I said, "I shall change right away, _your majesty_".

He turned around and was about to leave when he stopped and asked, "Wait, what's your name?"

"Kyra"


	6. Chapter 6

It had been a day since I had joined the jerks team and since then we had left the village and began heading north and were entering what appeared to be another entrance to a river only this one appeared larger than the last.

I was on deck amusing myself by playing with Naiya when I realized that we had begun turning and were entering the mouth of the river instead of continuing north. I looked up to the highest level of the command tower and saw the jerk standing on the balcony of the bridge looking off into the distance with his telescope.

I stood up and said, "Come on Naiya, let's go see what he's up to".

I walked into the command tower and began navigating my way towards the top floor and earning a number of uncomfortable glances while doing so. It did not escape my attention that I was the only female on board surrounded by men who had been at sea for a very long time. For that reason I had avoided leaving my room as much as possible but I was not one to stay indoors. After a life time of traveling and sleeping under the stars I couldn't stand being a room for an extended amount of time.

When I finally reached the bridge the jerk wasn't standing on the balcony but was inside hunching over a table and looking at a map. There was no one else in the room except for a man steering the ship.

I walked over to the jerk and asked, "Whatcha doing?"

Without looking at me the jerk asked, "What do you want?"

"An answer to my question", I smiled.

"You think you're so funny don't you?"

"No no, I do not think, I am, but that still doesn't answer my initial question".

He turned his head to glare at me and then returned to his map, "We're going to a forest".

"Why?"

"Must you ask so many questions?"

I glared at him, "Must you always stall before answering them?"

"Ugh! You're so annoying!" he said as he turned to face me.

"The only reason you find me so annoying is because I don't do or behave the way you want me to", I smiled.

"No, it's because you find it amusing to patronize me", he stepped forward and glared down at me.

I didn't back down, "Mm, yea, that too. You just make it too easy. I'll say it again, anger management classes".

He gritted his teeth and balled his hands into fists. From the corner of his eye he noticed that the soldier had turned his attention from steering the ship to us, "What are you looking at?"

The soldier jumped and turned his head to the front once more.

"And you", the jerk said to me, "Go bug someone else". He walked over to his map once more.

"Not until you tell me why we are going to the forest".

He took a deep breath and said, "I got information saying that the avatar was spotted there".

"Well if he was spotted there more than likely he won't be there anymore by the time we get there".

"We could try and track him from there".

"Didn't you tell me he had a flying bison? I highly doubt we are going to be able to track him when his means of traveling is flying".

"Well, that was before we had you on our side".

"Me?"

"You".

I rolled my eyes, "What about me?"

"You're a skilled tracker aren't you? I'm sure you'll have no trouble finding him".

"That's outrageous! He can fly for crying out loud!"

"He has to come down to rest at some point. Going to that forest will give you a starting point. You should be thanking me instead of complaining, I have given you a key piece to this unsolved puzzle".

I stared at him, wide eyed and shocked, "It didn't escape me that never once did you use the word 'us' in that last statement you made. You said 'you', as in me, singular".

"Yea", he said turning towards me again, "You, singularly you, the skilled tracker. Or are you beginning to doubt your abilities all of a sudden? Are you not as skilled as you claimed you were? Or you not even a tracker".

I glared at him suspiciously and Naiya growled, "I don't think it's me who is in doubt of my abilities. You don't believe me, why?"

"Many reasons", he said as he slowly stepped closer to me, "First, the contents of your bag didn't reveal any weapons of any sort that you could have used to take down criminals in your bounty hunting career. Second, one of my weakest soldiers captured you rather quickly and if you are as skilled as you say you are you should have been able to take him down easily. Last, you simply do not seem like the fighting type. Your movements are far too smooth and graceful and you do not appear to have even the slightest bit of muscle on your body".

When he had finally finished he was only a couple inches away from me.

"First" I stated, "I am a waterbender, I do not need weapons. Second, your soldier caught me by surprise and cornered me in a dark alley. I was weak at the time and he obviously had the upper hand. Last, there are other fighting styles besides brute strength. I am a very skilled fighter I would like you to know"

"Prove it".

"How?"

"Tonight, you and I shall have a little friendly battle just to test your skills".

"Hmph, fine, then prepare to be beat", I said as I turned on my heel and left.

I marched all the way back to my room, slammed the door closed, and leaned on it. I slid down to the floor and put my head in my hands.

"Who am I kidding, Naiya?" I whispered to her as she gave me a sympathetic look, "I can't fight. I've got to give the jerk credit though, he saw right through me".

It was pretty obvious I was not a fighter and much less a bounty hunter but I had hoped that it had not been that obvious and that the jerk would buy it. Now I was stuck in a dilemma that was bound to get me kicked off the ship and dropped in the middle of nowhere.

I had no experience in fighting except for a couple of thieves here and there, but never someone who had had the years of training like that the jerk did. Being a banished prince no doubt he was going to be a much better fighter then I was.

"Well, this is going to be a blast", I said.

The rest of the day I spent it in my room practicing a couple kicks and waited for night fall. Once it came I sighed and made my way towards the deck.

When I walked out of the command tower and onto the deck I saw the jerk and a couple of the crew members. General Iroh was also there.

Everybody cleared the floor on the deck to make room for the fight that was about to commence.

"Are you ready?" asked the jerk as he took his stance.

"Ready as I will ever be", I said as I walked a little closer and took my stance also.

No body moved for what felt like an eternity, and then the jerk shot a fire ball at my left leg.

I saw it coming and everything seemed to slow down. As it made its way towards my I jumped and it slowly passed underneath me. While I was in midair I saw the jerk had taken advantage of my position and had sent flames flying towards me, but by the time they were even remotely near me I had already touched the ground and had ducked underneath them. I took the advantage that he was transitioning stances to strike again and quickly ran up to him, placed my right hand on the ground, brought my legs up, and kicked him in the stomach and sent him flying a couple feet away. I used the force from the impact to flip myself over to my feet again. The jerk was lying on the floor and about to get back up when I sprang towards him and gathered up water in my right hand and froze it to form a sharp tip. I stepped on his chest before he got the chance to get up and aimed the sharp ice at his neck.

It seemed as though everybody had stopped breathing, except for me and the jerk who were both out of breath. He stared up at me and I stared down at him. Both of us shocked.

I smiled then, "And that, jerk, is how you take down a criminal, or an exiled prince in this case".

His shocked face was quickly replaced by his usual glare. He grabbed my foot and pulled it off of him causing me to lose my balance and come crashing to the ground.

"Oof!" I said as I hit the ground and once I got some air back in my lungs I said, "What the-"

"That was just beginners luck", said the jerk looming over me for he had gotten back up. He turned around and briskly walked back to the command tower. He stopped right before entering and turned to look at the people gathered around who were all still in shock, "Well! What are you all gawking at? Get back to your stations!"

With that he turned around and slammed the door behind him.


End file.
